Transforming Farming

16 November 2019

FOR SMALL FARMERS AT AGRITECHNICA 2019

The presence of Mahindra and Mahindra, the world’s largest tractor manufacturer by volume, at Agritechnica held in Hanover, Germany, between 10th – 16th November 2019, had a visionary purpose at its core this year. It was clearly reflected in the theme ‘Not Just Farming, Transforming’. Making their second appearance at the World’s No. 1 agri fair, the company championed the causeof small farmers. Unlike large landholders, small farmers are highly vulnerable to the uncertainties of farming and don’t have easy access to knowledge and advanced technology.

Mahindra is pioneering Farming as a Service (FaaS), a new delivery model that will provide solutionsthat are progressive, and at the same time affordable and accessible to these farmers. FaaS is holistic and will integrate agronomy advisory, mechanisation services and high-tech digital solutions to offer farmers support across their full crop cycle.

At Agritechnica, the company had on display farm mechanisation products from its global portfolio, including the Mitsubishi, Armatrac, Sampo Rosenlew and Hisarlar brands, as well as precision farming solutions that encompassed digital platforms and smart machines. The tractor models included Mahindra’s 6075 and 2025, ArmaTrac’s 804 Fruit Garden, power tillers including ELF 20, MMR 600 and MV 170 models as well as the vegetable high clearance tractor, GM501. Under its farm equipment showcase were the silage press and winder, power harrow, rubber type disc harrow, Alabora 300, deep chisel and square baler. The precision farming solutions included soil mapping and variable rate fertilisation as well as disease detection, potato planter and grape solutions.

Precision farming solutions use a variety of sensors and cameras systems, drones and satellites for monitoring and forecasting, collecting soil, weather and crop information from the farm land, and utilise Artificial intelligence (AI) to highlight localised problem areas. This enables farmers to diagnose andtreat distinct parts of their field differently, enabling them to release the right quantities of fertilizers, pesticides and water to optimise costs and improve crop productivity and quality.

Mahindra also presented DiGiSENSE, its embedded tractor platform, which empowers farmers to monitor the health of their tractor and receive alerts anytime, anywhere. Another asset tracking and optimisation tool showcased was Smart Track. An AI powered telematics solution, it is designed to enhance efficiency and profitability in the management of the farm fleet

Designed to enhance efficiency &   profitability.

Digisense empowers farmers to monitor the health of their tractor

The company’s endeavours have been consolidated with the aim to be a trusted partner of small and

medium landholding farmers globally, across the full crop cycle. The company aspires to herald the nextwave of progress in global agriculture, for which it has created a network of Centres of Excellence (CoE) across the globe. This includes Japan (Rice Value Chain and Light Weight Equipment), Finland (Small and Medium sized Harvester), Turkey (Tractor pulled implements and specialised farm equipment), Canada & Switzerland (High-tech precision farming algorithms) and India (Affordable farming solutions including tractors, harvesters, farm implements, as well as high tech, affordable IoT and simple precision farming equipment and solutions).

In addition, the company has invested in a network of 200 Agronomy Advisory Centres impacting 800,000 farmers, a platform for Pay-Per-Use Mechanisation Services and an agronomy-based Farm Management Platform.

During the 7-day event, a major press conference was organised on 11th November at Room Berlin at the Convention Centre within the event venue premises. It was attended by 50 journalists from USA, Turkey, Japan, India, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Poland, UK, Finland, France, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Iran, Switzerland and Slovenia. Members of the press were given a detailed presentation on Mahindra’s latest products and breakthrough technologies. During their\ interaction with Dr. Pawan Goenka (Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra), he said, “With productivity and profitability as key issues of farmers, we at Mahindra want to champion the cause of the small landholding farmers globally, democratising technologies to make a difference in their lives and transform the way farming is done. We want to do this through the introduction of value-adding technologies currently unaffordable and inaccessible to them. Our new precision farming initiatives showcased at Agritechnica are fine examples of our efforts in this direction.”

We want to champion the cause of the small landholding

farmers globally, democratising technologies to make a

difference in their lives and transform the way farming is done.

When asked if the Mahindra tractors would soon be seen in the European fields, Mr. Rajesh Jejurikar (President & CEO, Farm Equipment Sector) replied, “Mahindra has no concrete plans yet to sell Mahindra tractors in Europe. Two years ago we were certain that we were not going to do that. Moving insight has made us realize that Europe is an interesting market for Mahindra. Whether that will happen under the Mahindra brand, or via Mitsubishi, our Japanese subsidiary brand, or via a new brand, we are not sure yet. It will certainly be more advanced tractors than the ones we sell in India. In the US, Mahindra builds tractors up to 115 HP under its own brand, which meet all Western requirements. We already have a large market share there in that market segment. The same applies to Mitsubishi farm equipment in Japan. Mahindra has already taken major steps in the field of precision agriculture and robot tractors. Especially there I see potential in Europe."

Mahindra has already taken major steps

in the field of precision agriculture and robot tractors

A kit was handed over to every journalist which comprised of the corporate brochure, product brochures of all the exhibits across the Mahindra, Hisarlar and Mitsubishi stand, as well as the Sampo Rosenlew and ArmaTrac stands, a pen drive with all the information and a token of appreciation. The press members were suitably impressed with the advanced farm solutions, and the company’s presence at the event was extensively covered by leading print and electronic media.

The event proved to be a great success for Mahindra with more than 8000 people visiting the stall, including farmers, current and prospective distributors, families as well as individuals from the agri-related industry. At the event, the company’s intent to unleash the transformative potential of technology to empower small farmers to Rise was clearly and firmly established.